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UTAH VALLEY'S LUBCKS NAMED WAC WOMENâ€S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke has been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 5 through Dec. 11.
Lubcke, a junior center from Murray Bridge, Australia (Unity HS/College of Southern Idaho), led the Wolverines to back-to-back wins over Southern Utah and Denver. At SUU, she finished with a team-high 18 points and poured in eight of UVU's 15 third-quarter points against the Thunderbirds. Three days later, she posted her second double-double of the year, scoring 17 points and bringing down 12 rebounds in UVU's 14-point win over Denver. She currently leads the WAC in field-goal percentage, shooting at a .613 clip.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Brittany Sims averaged 15.5 ppg as the ‘Runners earned a pair of wins at home against Stanislaus State and Fresno Pacific … Chicago State's Cailin Nix scored 22 points in the Cougars' five-point loss at Loyola on Saturday … Grand Canyon's Vanessa Murphy had a breakout performance against Cal Poly, scoring 15 points and bringing down 10 rebound in a 64-59 win … NM State's Brooke Salas scored 17 points to lead the Aggies to an 11-point win at Northern Arizona … UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff averaged 14.5 ppg as the Vaqueros fell at nationally-ranked Oklahoma and undefeated Oklahoma State.
ON TAP
The schedule continues to lighten heading into the holidays but not without some top games. Thursday looks to be the most intriguing day as UT Rio Grande Valley visits national-power Texas while NM State travels to rival UTEP and Utah Valley heads up to Utah State. Seattle U heads to the Centennial State on Friday to take on Denver before heading up to Colorado State on Sunday. CSU Bakersfield also has a pair of games on the schedule this week, hosting UC Riverside on Wednesday before visiting UC Irvine, coached by former NM State Associate Coach Tamara Inoue, on Saturday. Chicago State travels to Milwaukee on Wednesday and then returns home for the first time since Nov. 29 to host Western Illinois on Saturday.
BY THE NUMBERS
NM State sits atop the conference standings and also leads the WAC in scoring offense (73.4), scoring margin (+8.7), field goal percentage defense (.378), three-point defense (.282), rebounding offense (41.4), steals (11.1) and turnover margin (+6.33). UMKC leads the WAC in scoring defense (63.3), field goal percentage (.430), three-point field goal percentage (.364), rebounding defense (32.3) and rebounding margin (+4.3). UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in free throw percentage (.718) and blocked shots (5.3) while Grand Canyon leads the conference in assists (16.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.1). CSU Bakersfield is making the most three-pointers per game, averaging 8.7.
Individually, Grand Canyon's Marina Laramie is the scoring leader, averaging 20.6 ppg. Chicago State's Sh'Toya Sanders is the top rebounder (9.9) and shot blocker (4.1). Utah Valley's Sam Lubcke leads the league in field goal percentage (.613) while NM State's Tamera William is the top free throw shooter (.897). Her Aggie teammate Zaire Williams leads the WAC in assists (6.0) while UVU's Taylor Gordon is tops in steals (3.5). CSU Bakersfield's Erika Williams is the top three-pointer shooters (.488) while Seattle U's Kaylee Best is averaging the most threes (2.8).
CLEANING UP
Chicago State sophomore Sh'Toya Sanders set a new NCAA Division I season best with 23 rebounds in a loss at Northern Illinois. She wasn't just rebounding as she also finished with 38 points agaisnt the Huskies.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
When CSU Bakersfield played host to nationally-ranked Stanford on Dec, 1, CSUB head coach Greg McCall welcomed home his daughter and Cardinal senior forward Erica McCall. The Ridgeview HS graduate scored a game-high 18 points with 12 rebounds to lead Stanford past CSU Bakersfield, 77-56.
HOME SWEET HOME
UMKC opened the season with a home game and a road trip but for the remainder of non-conference play, the Roos will have the comfort of their home beds most of the nights. After four straight at home, they played a single road game on Dec. 3 at Abilene Christian and then return for four more at home before heading back east to take on La Salle and Stony Brook to wrap up non-conference play in late December.
FREQUENT FLIERS
On the other side of the spectrum will be Seattle U, who opened a six-game road trip on Dec. 4 that will have them visiting four different states. The Redhawks were at home on Dec. 2 against Montana and now won't play at the Connolly Complex again until a Dec. 29 game against CSUN.
RAINING THREES
Both Grand Canyon and Seattle U hit 12 three-pointers in their season openers. For the Redhawks, it was their highest total since 2010. For Grand Canyon, it was their highest total in three seasons.
PRESEASON COACHES POLL
NM State is the favorite to win the 2016-17 Western Athletic Conference women's basketball title and UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff was selected WAC Preseason Player of the Year in a vote of the league's eight head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.
The Aggies, who won their second straight WAC title last season, received 49 points and seven first place votes in the preseason poll. UT Rio Grande Valley was a close second with 42 points and the remaining first place vote. Grand Canyon earned the third spot with 34 points while CSU Bakersfield was selected fourth with 29 points. UMKC was predicted fifth with 26 points, followed by Utah Valley (23), Seattle U (13) and Chicago State (8).
Goff, the 2015-16 WAC Player of the Year, leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining her on the first team are NM State's Moriah Mack and Brianna Freeman, Utah Valley's Mariah Seals and Grand Canyon's Jessica Gajewski.
Second team selections include Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir (UT Rio Grande Valley), Kaylee Allen (Chicago State), Aries Washington (UMKC), Kaylee Best (Seattle U) and Erika Williams (CSU Bakersfield).
PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
The Western Athletic Conference women's basketball media have selected NM State as the preseason favorite to repeat as conference champions in 2016-17 and UT Rio Grande Valley's Shawnte' Goff as the WAC Preseason Player of the Year.
The Aggies earned six first place votes in the media poll to collect 90 points and edge out UT Rio Grande, who earned five first place votes to finish with 88 points. Grand Canyon was selected third with 64 points, followed by CSU Bakersfield, who earned 55 points including one first place vote. Utah Valley was selected fifth, followed by UMKC, Seattle U and Chicago State.
Goff, the 2015-16 WAC Player of the Year, leads the list of Preseason All-WAC honorees. Joining her on the first team are NM State's Moriah Mack, Grand Canyon's Jessica Gajewski, UMKC's Aries Washington, and Utah Valley's Mariah Seals.
Second team selections include Hildur Björg Kjartansdóttir (UT Rio Grande Valley), Mary Savoy (UT Rio Grande Valley), Brianna Freeman (NM State), Kaylee Allen (Chicago State) and Brooke Salas (NM State).
RETURNING ALL-CONFERENCE PLAYERS
Just two of five First Team All-WAC players from last season return for the 2016-17 season as reigning WAC Player of the Year Shawnte' Goff from UT Rio Grande Valley and NM State's Moriah Mack are the only returners.
KEY NON-CONFERENCE MATCHUPS
This season, WAC teams will face some tough competition in the non-conference portion of the schedule, with a minimum of 15 games against NCAA Tournament participants and a minimum of 17 against Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) participants. The complete list is below.
Games vs. NCAA Teams
Nov. 11 - Chicago State at Kansas State
Nov. 11 - Idaho at Seattle U
Nov. 11 - Brigham Young at Utah Valley
Nov. 13 - Hawai'i at CSU Bakersfield
Nov. 15 - Seattle U at San Francisco
Nov. 20 - NM State at Hawai'i
Nov. 26 - Idaho at Grand Canyon
Nov. 26 - Washington at Seattle U
Dec. 1 - Washington at Grand Canyon
Dec. 1 - Stanford at CSU Bakersfield
Dec. 8 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Oklahoma
Dec. 11 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Oklahoma State
Dec. 15 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Texas
Dec. 18 - Seattle U at Colorado State
Dec. 29 - Grand Canyon at Hawai'i
Games vs. WNIT Teams
Nov. 12 - UT Rio Grande Valley at Nebraska
Nov. 18 - CSU Bakersfield at Oregon
Nov. 19 - Wright State at Chicago State
Nov. 19 - Utah Valley at Utah
Nov. 25 - Utah Valley vs. Central Michigan (Cal Poly Holiday Tournament)
Nov. 27 - South Dakota at CSU Bakersfield
Nov. 29 - Grand Canyon at UC Riverside
Dec. 1 - Chicago State at Ball State
Dec. 4 - Seattle U at Montana State
Dec. 4 - Chicago State at Northwestern
Dec. 10 - Seattle U at UC Riverside
Dec. 12 - Seattle U at San Diego
Dec. 14 - Chicago State at Milwaukee
Dec. 14 - UC Riverside at CSU Bakersfield
Dec. 15 - NM State at UTEP
Dec. 19 - NM State vs. Quinnipiax (Play for Kay Shootout)
Dec. 28 - CSU Bakersfield at UTEP
ORLEANS ARENA IN LAS VEGAS TO HOST 2016 WAC TOURNAMENT
The 2017 WAC Basketball Tournament returns to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas for the seventh year in a row. This year's tournament includes all seven eligible teams and will be held Wednesday-Saturday, March 8-11.
COMING TO YOU LIVE
The WAC Digital Network will broadcast 43 regular season women's basketball games, including all four games on the final day of the regular season and the first round and semi-final games at the 2017 WAC Basketball Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.